I ask, only because runner-up Ty Barnett cracked some lame joke about expecting to be stuck watching Josh win the show, before uncorking a kick ass set that probably would have won him the competition -- if he'd only performed it THE NIGHT BEFORE. You know, when people could vote for him?

Barnett seemed to be acting like the result was a foregone conclusion. But I couldn't tell if that was because he was pissed at himself for doing such a lame-o set last night before the final viewer vote, or if he was, um, encouraged to suck to pave the way for Blue's win. (To see some comedy cognoscenti accuse Josh of ripping off other handicapped stand up comics, click here and scroll to comments)

Watching the parade of past winners and creator Jay Mohr work it during the finale, I was struck by just how diverse this program's slate of winners has been -- how many other reality shows have had a Vietnamese guy, white guy, black guy and now handicapped guy as top winners? (I know. No women?) I was also struck by how they all stunk up the joint, save for Alonzo Bodden -- I know he's a little old and a little dark for Hollywood, but this guy should at least be writing scripts for somebody big!

I've been avoiding the flood of summer reality TV nonsense like the plague, but Last Comic managed to hook me in ways Work Out and Flavor of Love couldn't (but I gotta admit, watching Isaac the Love Boat bartender, Tina "Family Ties" Yothers AND Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore on VH1's tribute to celebrity humiliation, Celebrity fit Club 4 comes awfully close, too!).

But I still never understood why Last Comic's latest host Anthony Clark -- a stand up veteran with at least two horrendous sitcoms to his credit -- always had flop sweat like he was making a hostage video most of the time he was onstage.

In the end, tho, I gotta agree with my girl -- D-list queen and onetime Last Comic judge Kathy Griffin: most of these comics were too generic and too lame to care about, even among the winners. One plus, tho: no Hasselhoff.

Times Picayune Photographer Tries for Suicide By Cop

I never met John McCusker during my week or so hanging out with staffers at New Orleans' Times Picayune newspaper for my story on their post-Katrina travails. But I often wondered how the newsroom endured something so traumatic -- evacuating, building a new life in Baton Rouge, coming back weeks later to a devastated town -- without major psychic damage among the staff. (here is a McCusker photo from the paper's Katrina coverage - click to enlarge)

McCusker hinted at similar issues during an interview with American Journalism Review: "After taking a leave of absence for a month, Times-Picayune photographer John McCusker went back to work on June 20. McCusker spent much of the leave sleeping off exhaustion and attending therapy sessions three times a week. As a colleague told him, it was easier getting into the foxhole than getting out.

McCusker says he had essentially become nonfunctional, a joker who had become humorless, a man who had given up cigarettes 20 years ago who was smoking two packs a day. On the day the Pulitzer Prizes were announced, McCusker's wife, Johanna Schindler, told her husband that she had gotten a new job, as director of public relations for the University of New Orleans. McCusker rejoiced and then spent the next day at home curled up in a ball, weeping. It was time, he says, to get help. "It's very simple. You have to see if you can get your head turned around, to look away from the past, look to the future and go on," he says."

i was always surprised that the Times-Picayune didn't have some sort of mass counseling program underway to deal with all the trauma. Something tells me they may have to rethink that notion soon.

About the blog

The Feed is your source for television news, reviews and commentary. A group of Tampa Bay Times writers will blog about everything from their current TV obsessions to the changing TV/media landscape (binge-watching galore!). Let's all geek out over our favorite shows together.

As a wee TV fanatic, Times pop music critic Sean Daly first learned to tell time via Lee Majors classic "The Six Million Dollar Man." On family trips, instead of asking "Are we there yet?" he would inquire of his parents: "How many more Six's?" Thus, the concept of an hour. Adorable, right? Not nearly as cute: An adult Sean wears a Tigers hat not to support Detroit but because Tom Selleck wore one on "Magnum, P.I." It's sad really.

Michelle Stark is a Times writer, editor, designer and unabashed TV nerd. Her millennial TV-watching habits rely on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon instead of traditional cable, but she never misses her favorite shows, which include everything from Girls, Parenthood and New Girl to high-minded dramas like Mad Men and Homeland. She never met a reality dance show competition she didn’t like.

Sharon Kennedy Wynne is a Times writer and editor part of that first generation of toddlers raised on Sesame Street. Her TV tastes are eclectic. She's still a big fan of Sesame Street, but also darker fare like American Horror Story and Scandal. As our resident reality TV fan (though she's ashamed to admit it), she has complex theories on Survivor, Amazing Race and Big Brother strategies.